Sheridan Board of Education Will Wait for Elections Before Starting Superintendent Search Process

The Sheridan Board of Education this week agreed to wait until after the November board elections to begin the process of searching for a new superintendent.

Superintendent Michael Clough has announced he will pursue other interests after his contract expires in June, 2018. He was brought back to continue serving as superintendent on a limited basis even after officially retiring two years ago.

However, all five seats on the Sheridan Board of Education are up for election this coming November. During a retreat in Colorado Springs, board president Ron Carter urged the four current members to delay all major decisions about the process, including timeline and questions about how much to spend on working with a search firm, until the new board is seated.

While some of the current board members may choose to run re-election and may also win their elections, Carter said he didn’t want the current board to do anything that would tie the hands of the next board in making decisions. In addition, a candidate may emerge for the long-vacant board seat.

In general, board members agreed that their goal is to have a new superintendent selected by April of 2018 and that a national search is in the best interests of developing a strong pool of candidates.

G Drive Hacked

Superintendent Clough told the board that the district’s “G Drive” suffered a ransomware attack and the hackers behind the attack are seeking a $4,600 payment to restore the data on the drive. Superintendent Clough said the drive stored job descriptions, business records from grants, and lesson plans. He emphasized that the drive stored no sensitive student, employee or business management information. The district is consulting with the company that manages its back-up data storage to decide a best course of action. There is no guarantee that a ransom

payment would lead to the data being restored. Superintendent Clough said the district is